a journal of framebuilding, thoughts and musings on the world around me and my interactions within it. thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Noah's bike, frame repair service, great client pics - Thanks!

Here is Noah's bike from the get-go - a 29er off to Missouri.It is a fun project, and Noah is into the build process so I'll try to put a light onto what I'm trying to achieve with this and all builds - optimise the ride.I designed the bike around his propensity to do endurance races in the twisty trails where he lives so it has to be comfortable while retaining sharp yet predictable handling while taking pain out of his lower back, neck and hands.

Here i am fitting up the down tube while the jig is empty - handy! ca-click! - I have been nailing miters - it's funI checked the geo on his current scoot, one of the "big" proponents of 29er bikes, to see what I had changed - my geometry has a seat tube angle a full 2* slacker then his "current" ride (pun intended - inside joke) as he pushed his saddle back all the way, and to rotate his hips, taking pressure off the lower spine and moving the pressure points more onto his IT/sit bones.This also shortened up the front center of this frame from the stock one almost 1" while keeping the chain stay length the same, and the seat tube is shorter as well, 16.5" center to center.The head tube is 1cm longer, to raise the hands as much as possible while still allowing as much stand over clearance as possible while still being able to remove a large H2O bottle from the seat tube safely at speed for endurance racing while using a 100mm 29er fork with a stand over of 33" - allot of things to consider!

......... And checked for straightness, H2O bottle holes drilled - good to go.

And then chain stays added and again, checked for alignment............

.........as well as checked for component compatibility - a 2.35" Panaracer Rampage all the way forward.

And, a Blackspire 32T ring with a good 5mm of ring clearance.

On to seat stays tomorrow, office morning today & then I NEED to go for a bike ride - my body is killing me & I need to stretch it out.

Scott's car-to-overhead frame all tacked together with a new front triangle - one of the beauties of steel is it's repair-ability - this frame rode all the way across Asia on the Silk Road and then was used for thousands of miles of mountain biking only to get crushed on a roof rack, but some paint & it's back out there after around eight years of use and ready for many, many more!

My 1st braze in three weeks - pretty good, it's just going to get painted & get set back out.

The original damage - ouchy-poo!

Brazing, as you can see, it very strong.

I got these pics from Justin in NC of his finished Coconino - Damn, that came out really, really sweet - love the color!

And, one more - what a graceful rig. It always amazes me to see them after they have left my hands and I can see them in a clear vision separate from the fabrication process.

SO, WHAT'S THIS ALL ABOUT, THEN?

Hi! my name is Steve Garro, and this blog is an ongoing chronical of the process of building the finest handmade bicycles I can here at Coconino Cycles, located in beautiful Flagstaff, Arizona.

I'm a one man operation, doing all the design and fabrication in house with my own hands. we have been operating full time since feburary 2003, producing about 20-25 frames a year, as well as handbuilt wheelsets and complete bike builds. every bike is totally custom fit to the needs and measurements of each rider and built from scratch with hand selected tubesets from several premium manufactuers including True Temper, Dedacciai and Kaisei. I pride myself on perfect fit, ride quality, and durability to provide you with the best cycling experence I can. to know more details, check out my web page, http://www.coconinocycles.com/

Please note that as of 1/14 I had a roughly one amd a half year backlog on orders. I have since stopped taking deposits to catch up on work until January 2015

When looking through my blog, you will also see alot of details of my life and pictures of things I like to do and stuff that I think is cool, like handcycling, fishing, boating, friends and family, critters, landscape, and flowers, with some wierd stuff thrown in for good measure. enjoy, and thanks for stopping by - Steve